The Mechanic
by MisoSoop
Summary: Written for a Challenge Steve is at odds with the members of his family; while everyone seems to go against him, he may have to realize that not everything can be fixed, and not everything needs fixing.
1. Chapter 1

_**So I was MIA for awhile. **_But I'm back. I'm just going to lay down some quick info about this story: it was written for a challenge to write a sister fic. But don't run away screaming yet. I'm hoping to be in the group of stories that showed a sister fic has the potential to be a good story, and I want people to enjoy it and find it realistic. I'm not sure how many chapters it will have.

**Disclaimer: **Consider this the disclaimer for the entire story. I don't own anything related to The Outsiders and I'm obviously not making profit out of posting this story. I own anyone that you are not familiar with, unless I say otherwise.

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_**The Mechanic**_

_One_

It was too hot to move. Too hot to be bothered by the Socs' words. It wasn't too hot to be annoyed by the fact that they were in nice, cold, cars, but it was too hot to throw anything at the cars despite that.

The DX, at least, was a little cooler if you bothered to go inside, but some people just preferred being outside no matter what the weather was. Or how dangerous some people insisted it to be.

Steve and Sodapop were happy as clams to be standing around outside in the sweltering heat and joking around. For once, there weren't too many girls standing around the gas station asking questions about their cars to distract them.

There was one girl, but she didn't seem interested in flirting or scoring a date.

"Steve, you're the only one with a car, and it's too hot to walk. It won't take that much time to give me a ride."

Steve sighed and looked at her, apparently agitated that she was still there. Soda watched quietly, his head tilted as he leaned against the building of the DX.

"I thought I told you I'm workin'," he said evenly, looking towards the street as she rolled her eyes.

"You ain't workin', you're standing. You don't start work yet," she said irritably.

There was a long moment of silence, before Steve looked at her again. "I'm not driving you, Carol."

"Why not?"

"'Cause you don't need to go to this place anyway, you've got other stuff to do, don't you?"

"It's too hot to do anything else, Steve. Besides, all of my friends are going to be there!"

"Then get new friends. I know the people throwin' this party of yours and I don't like 'em. So you're not goin'."

"C'mon, Carol, you can have fun right here with us," Soda said, smiling. Steve glared at him, but Carol didn't seem to be impressed with the idea.

"I don't find a gas station very exciting, Sodapop," she stated, crossing her arms. "I want to spend time with my friends," she added a bit louder, looking at Steve.

"And what the hell are you goin' to wear to this party anyway? Jeans and tee shirts aren't really the newest clothes to wear out."

"That's not fair Steve, you know I don't have anything else! And Kay said I could borrow some of her nice clothes for the party," Carol said defensively.

Steve did know perfectly well that she had outgrown her skirts and other nicer clothes when she had gone through her rather frightening growth spurt when she was about eleven years old.

Now, at fifteen, she was tall and lean like her brother, but not tall enough to beat him like everyone thought she would have. Still, Steve did feel bad that Carol didn't have anything nice to wear, and was embarrassed that her friends let her borrow their clothes to wear to school.

Soda had pointed out that it just meant that she had chosen good friends. Steve had insisted that it was pity, because their family didn't have enough money at the time to buy her new clothes.

Instead, she wore Steve's clothes that he had out grown, if she couldn't manage to get a hold of anything nicer.

"Well that's nice of Kay," Steve grumbled. "But it doesn't matter, you're still not going."

"Dad said I could!"

"I don't care what that bastard said! He doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"Steve …" Soda frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder before he could lose himself in his temper. Carol didn't seem to be too bothered by the outburst, but she did look disappointed.

There was silence again as Steve glared at nothing in particular, before taking a deep breath and deciding to speak again.

"My kid sister ain't goin' to any parties thrown by any of Shepard's gang, and that's final. Tell Kay you can't go, maybe you could go to her house instead."

The siblings glared at each other, having some sort of bizarre stare down that Soda watched warily. Carol frowned, Steve narrowed his eyes, and a car pulled up to the station.

When neither employee moved, the owner startled them all by honking the horn at them. Carol sighed as Sodapop hurried off to do his job.

"Fine," Carol murmured. "I won't go! Are you happy, you annoying jerk?"

"Thrilled. Now go home."

After one final exchange of glares, Steve watched his sister stomp off until he was sure she was heading home. He rolled his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation.

He wasn't surprised by the little argument they had just had; ever since Carol had turned thirteen, something had gotten to her head and she insisted on challenging him every chance she could get.

Steve wasn't sure if it was because of the friends she had made around that time, or just because she had let the 'teen' boost her ego a little too much, but she was wearing on him more often than usual.

If he could be grateful of anything, it was the fact that she didn't spend much time around him; he was sure that had saved him from getting into even more arguments with her.

"Carol ran off, huh?"

Steve grunted slightly, looking away from the street with a frown. "Guess I'll find out later if she actually listened to me."

"You think she'll still go to that party?" Soda looked at him curiously, idly wiping sweat away from his eyes and mouth. "I dunno, Steve. Carol's always been pretty good about listening to you."

"No she hasn't. She hasn't actually _done _anything I've told her to since she and her friends decided they'd wander around in the middle of the night."

"That was when they went to that place that's open late, right? The place with all of those magazines?"

Steve nodded, irritably wiping sweat away as well. "The place by the school, yeah."

"Guess it's a good thing you don't have too many enemies on this side of the town, eh?" Soda smiled slightly. Steve gave him a skeptical look, and Soda decided now was the time to sigh.

"It sure is hot," he muttered, looking up at the sky and squinting to block out the bright sun as best he could. "Think it'll last?"

"I don't know, weather ain't exactly an interest of mine. 'Sides, it's summer, it always gets hot like this."

"It's almost fall, it should be cooling down, not getting warmer. Hey, if this weather keeps up maybe we could cool off at the movie house or somethin'. Sandy wanted to see that new movie," Soda said casually, looking at Steve with a smile. "I bet Evie'd like it."

"Maybe she would," Steve said absently. "But I'm not really in the mood to think about movies."

"'Cause of Carol or 'cause of your old man?"

Steve shook his head, frowning. "Carol's annoying, but he's the one that keeps telling her she can do all that stuff. I don't know what he's getting at."

"Just tryin' to give her what she wants, I guess," Soda said absently.

"He doesn't know what she wants," Steve said stubbornly. "And neither does she," he added solemnly as he pushed away from the wall and headed inside the garage.

Soda said nothing to stop him. Steve had ended the conversation the moment he had headed for the door.


	2. Chapter 2

_I felt like writing about Evie. She doesn't get any love. Just like Steve.  
_

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_**The Mechanic**_

_Two_

The heat in the garage was oppressive; easily more stifling than the heat outside. Steve was beginning to regret his decision to retreat to this place, even if it had been for his own sanity. Somehow, working on someone else's car just didn't seem to be worth this kind of suffering.

Feeling too drowsy and too irritable to do much, he perched himself on the hood of the car, and scowled at the wall. He blamed Carol for his mood; if she would just listen, he wouldn't be so irritated, and he definitely wouldn't be in this brick hell.

He thought of her stomping home, her jaw clenched along with her fists, a sour expression on her face; it made him feel a bit better, to know that she would be in just as bad a mood as he was in.

Maybe she'd even be in her room, stomping around as quietly as she could manage. Maybe, just maybe, she'd even cry.

Steve certainly hoped so. He would consider that even payback for ticking him off. But he knew that by the time he got home, Carol would be gone, and his father would ask him just what the hell he had done all day; the first step to their second argument.

The heat seemed to get worse, causing his insides to feel like they were boiling as his anger mounted. His father, whom didn't even have a steady job, still felt he could talk down to him. To kick him out and make him feel worthless.

And, of course, Carol would agree with everything he said as long as it got her what she wanted later.

He'd saved both of their asses more than once. The least they could do was pretend they were grateful and give him a break.

Steve wiped the sweat from his forehead, scowling so hard he was getting a headache. He barely noticed the breeze of fresh air, but he noticed the foot steps.

"Soda said you were in one of your moods again. Thought maybe I should cheer you up."

He looked at Evie and her sly smile as she glided over, the clicking of her heels echoing slightly in the mostly empty garage.

"Visitin' with Sandy?"

Evie nodded, idly tossing her hair over her shoulder. Not that there was much to toss; she'd recently cut her hair short, complaining of the heat. But Steve had noticed that it just seemed to be an odd habit that most girls had.

"Yeah, she was at my house, and we decided to stop by," she explained, sighing and fanning herself with a home manicured hand. "It's like a furnace in here Steve, why'd you leave everything closed up?"

Steve shrugged, wiping sweat away from his forehead again. Evie gave him a half hearted peck on the cheek, cringing at the sweat.

"You'll have a heat stroke," Evie muttered, sitting on the car next to him. She seemed to notice that he wasn't in the mood to play along, so she put a hand on his knee and stared at the wall with him.

Steve was grateful for Evie's understanding. She didn't ask him what was wrong and make him feel awkward, she just sat and waited for him to either get into a better mood, or tell her himself.

"I saw Carol heading home," Evie said suddenly, breaking the silence. Evie didn't live too far from the Randle house, which was a pretty good walk from the DX. Still, he wasn't surprised that Evie had seen Carol on her way here.

"Didja now?"

"She didn't look too pleased either," she said solemnly. "Did you send her packin' earlier?"

Evie, as much as she agreed that Carol could use a good smack, didn't support Steve's efforts when he sent her away.

"She was tryin' to get a ride outta me so she could go to some party. I told her she couldn't go," Steve explained, feigning boredom with the whole situation.

"Funny, I was gonna ask you to go to a party later," Evie said breezily. "Must be the same one. Heard it's gonna be a pretty nice gig."

"Do you think Carol will go to that party anyway?" Steve asked, apparently ignoring what Evie had said. She let out an irritated sigh.

"Hell, Steve, how should I know? If she's there, she's there. I just want to spend time with you before school starts. We never have any classes together," she pouted.

"Yeah, alright," Steve said, trying to stop her irritation before it got much worse. "I'll pick you up after work, and we can go to that party."

"You'd better shower first," Evie said firmly, wrinkling her nose slightly. "You're sweatin' like a pig. You'll smell terrible."

Steve cursed half heartedly, accepting the playful kiss as an apology.

"I'm a boy, I ain't supposed to smell sweet or nothin'. That's your job."

"Oh, shut it. Smellin' decent isn't a _job. _I'm going out with Steve Randle, not that Joe kid that sits alone at lunch."

"You're comparin' me to Joe? He smells like the city dump," he grumbled.

"Then you best shower before you pick me up!" Evie pointed out. "And Steve, try not to get into such a bad mood just because of Carol," she added with a frown. "You really worry me when you get into one of your moods."

Steve frowned, biting back any comments he might have had; there was nothing to worry about just because he was in a bad mood. He wasn't as bad as his father was. But he didn't want to talk about any of that with Evie.

"Alright. Better mood, and a shower. I'll add that to my list of things to do," Steve said as he slid off the car as well. Evie rolled her eyes.

"You do that, cowboy."


	3. Chapter 3

_20 days later. Exactly. Don't be surprised by spaces between updates. School is stressful and doesn't leave me enough time to focus on writing. _

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_**The Mechanic**_

_Three_

Steve and Soda finally had to retreat inside when the heat became too unbearable by midday. The work day got slower; open windows were no longer good enough to chase the heat out of the cars.

Sandy and Evie had left to seek refuge in the slightly cooler air in the house of another friend of theirs, leaving the two boys to their own devices to keep themselves busy. For awhile, they had simply complained they were bored, and then asked each other what they should do.

But Steve got sick of that rather quickly.

"I already told you I don't know what I want to do," Steve said irritably, after Soda had questioned him for the fifth time.

Soda frowned slightly, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling, before he looked back at Steve with a grin on his face. Steve gave him a skeptical look, wondering what thought had struck his friend. When Soda remained silent, Steve chanced a glance to the ceiling.

Rotating slowly was an old ceiling fan, one the owner of the DX had bought when he had heard about how they were supposed to use less energy, and cost less to use. It barely made a breeze, and Steve glared at it.

"What?" he asked finally, looking at Soda. Soda's grin widened as he grabbed a page of an old newspaper, balled it up, and tossed it at the ceiling fan.

The paper hit a blade and bounced right back off, sailing across the room.

There was a long moment where neither boy did anything, before they each grabbed another page, balled it up, and tossed it up at the fan, watching them bounce off in different directions.

They quickly designated points for certain places in the room, and were soon playing a rather competitive game.

"What are you talking about? You said that one was worth ten!"

"No I didn't. The one next to it is ten. The place where mine landed was worth twenty."

"You're a cheat, Soda. I don't know why I play with you."

"I don't need to cheat," Sodapop said confidently, tossing another ball of paper at the fan. "I'm just that good."

"Bull," Steve grumbled, looking at the clock. "Look, our shift's almost over, so let's just clean this up before we get in trouble."

"Aw, come on. That's boring. I don't wanna clean it up."

"And I don't wanna tick off the guy that pays me," Steve replied, picking up the balls of paper that littered the floor around him. Soda joined in with a heavy sigh, but turned it into another game by tossing them into the garbage can from across the room.

"Hey, did Evie mention a party when she talked to you?" Soda asked curiously as he held the door open for Steve so they could leave.

"Yeah. She said she figured it was the one Carol was begging to go to. I said I'd take her."

"Carol?"

"No. You were there for that little conversation. Her ass isn't going to that party. I said I'd take Evie."

"Sandy hinted at wantin' to go too," Soda said as they walked away from the DX and to Steve's car. "Guess we can go there together."

Steve only nodded as he and Soda got into the car and drove away. Soda didn't seem to mind the silence at first, but he became restless after a few minutes and finally started up the conversation again.

"Do you think it'll actually be worth goin' to?"

"Maybe. Most parties are. We haven't really been to a dull one yet, have we?"

"Nah, I guess not," Soda agreed. A frown crossed his face as he stared out the car window. "Hey, Steve, why're you so hard on Carol?"

"I'm not hard on her."

"Bull. You're just as bossy as Darry is with Ponyboy."

"Hell, that kid needs a talkin' too sometimes. He's pretty dense." Steve glanced at Soda, who was giving him a hard look. "What? He is. Not all the time or nothin', but enough that a talk can't hurt," he said defensively. "Carol deserves what she gets."

"But you're just her brother Steve. And she's not actin' any different than you did when you were younger."

"She's a girl."

Soda raised his eyebrows. "So that's why she was wearing that skirt the other day."

"Shut up."

"Really, Steve. She's not actin' any different than we did, or how the other girls act."

"Well no one said she had to act that way," Steve said, giving him an agitated glance. "She's a pain in the ass, that's all there is to it. And I can't really beat it out of her, now can I?"

Soda sighed, shaking his head slightly. "No, you can't," he said solemnly. "Look, do ya think you can drive me an' Sandy to the party too? Darry can't let me use the truck 'cause of that new job of his."

"We're goin' to the same place, so I don't see why I couldn't," Steve said, shrugging. He was still gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly. "You just better be ready to go," he added, stopping in front of the Curtis house so Soda could get out.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, you better watch out for shoes or something, if Carol's actually home. Evie won't be too happy if your face is bruised up."

"I think Evie's more worried about whether I'm taking a shower before I go," Steve said, frowning. "I'm serious Sodapop, I ain't waitin' around for you when I come to get you and Sandy."

"I know. Go home and take a shower," Soda said a bit dismissively as he walked into the front yard. He disappeared into the house as Steve pulled away.

Hopefully Carol would be happy with sulking, instead of dragging their dad into the mess.

Suddenly, Steve wasn't in the mood to go anywhere; not home, and not to the party. But he'd told Evie he'd go. And going home wasn't really an option, as much as he'd like it to be.


End file.
